Flush toilet with deodorizing function

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, in which odor exhaust means used to remove an offensive odor is constructed in a compact built-in form in which it is installed inside the toilet body lest it should not seen from the outside, and which can be manufactured using the existing structure of the flush toilet, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost, and thus ensuring economic efficiency.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, which can promptly eliminate a foul odor (e.g., smell of excretion, etc.) that is generated from a user's waste including feces and urine inside a toilet bowl of a flush toilet (or western-style flush toilet) and gives an unpleasant feeling to him or her. More particularly, the present invention relates to a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, in which odor exhaust means used to remove an offensive odor is constructed in a compact built-in form in which it is installed inside the toilet body lest it should not seen from the outside, and which can be manufactured even without a great change in the existing structure of the flush toilet, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost, and thus ensuring economic efficiency.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, it is widely known that a flush toilet is installed in restrooms of multi-residential houses such as apartment houses and officetels, offices of large-scale buildings in which public offices and enterprises are located, schools, general houses, and the like. It is also known that an odor exhaust fan is installed on walls such as ceilings of the restrooms to get rid of a malodor generated from the inside of the restrooms.

However, although such an odor exhaust fan can emit a general smell generated during the use of the restrooms to the outside, the most terrible smell, i.e., a stench user's generated when a user relieves himself or herself on the flush toilet, or a foul odor generated from feces discharged from the anus of the user and is released in the air at the moment when the feces comes into close contact with water contained in a concave toilet bowl. This foul odor needs to be promptly and cleanly eliminated. However, the conventional flush toilet entails a problem in that since the removal of the foul odor, i.e., deodorization is actually not performed completely, the malodor in public restrooms used by the general public makes an unpleasant sensation more terrible.

In order to solve this problem, a flush toilet for removal of a foul odor is disclosed in a first patent document as listed below. This flush toilet for removal of a foul odor has an advantage in that it can be used in a western-style flush toilet that was installed previously. However, such a flush toilet encounters a problem in that the sense of beauty of the outer appearance of the flush toilet is degraded due to a structure in which an exhaust device for removing the foul odor is arranged in an externally exposed shape, as well as causes a difficulty and an inconvenience in the installation work in which a wall structure of the restroom must be drilled or a screw nail must be fixedly installed on the wall structure and the flush toilet additionally.

Further, in order to solve the problems involved in the patent documents as listed below, a flush toilet for removal of a foul odor has been proposed which is integrally formed with an existing western-style flush toilet. However, such a conventional flush toilet also involves a problem in that malodor removal means as a separate constituent element is installed in the existing toilet body, thereby making the structure of the flush toilet complicated and thus increasing the manufacturing cost.

Therefore, there is an urgent need for a flush toilet for removal of a foul odor, which is constructed in a built-in form without degrading the sense of beauty of the outer appearance of the flush toilet and can be mass-supplied in a stable cost-effective manner.

PRIOR ART LITERATURE Patent Documents

1. Korean Patent No. 1994-008470

2. Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0334919

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in order to complement the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art and to provide various additional advantages, and it is a main object of the present invention to provide a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, in which the sense of beauty of the outer appearance of the flush toilet is not degraded by virtue of a compact built-in structure in which foul odor removal means is installed integrally inside a toilet body, and the inner construction of a conventional flush toilet can be used as the foul odor removal means, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

Solution to Problem

To achieve the above objects, in one aspect, the present invention provides a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, including: a water tank configured to store waste wash water; a toilet body including a toilet bowl formed to fluidically communicate with the water tank and a drain trap extending downwardly from a bottom of the toilet bowl so as to fludically communicate with the toilet bowl, the toilet bowl including a plurality of waste wash water jet holes formed on the inner circumference of an upper rim portion thereof so as to allow the wash water supplied from the water tank to be spouted to the inside of the toilet bowl through the water jet holes via a waste wash water passage formed below the water tank and along the inside of the upper rim portion of the toilet bowl; an odor exhaust device including an odor exhaust conduit mounted extending downwardly from the toilet bowl while forming a channel of a predetermined length along both sides of the rim portion of the toilet bowl inside the toilet body in such a manner that an upper portion of the channel is formed so as to be opened toward the waste wash water passage 126 and a lower portion of the channel is formed so as to exposed to the bottom of the toilet body and connected in fluidical communication to an exhaust pipe mounted below the floor of a restroom, and an odor exhaust fan mounted at a predetermined position of the odor exhaust conduit and configured to exhaust a foul odor generated from the inside of the toilet bowl to the outside through the exhaust pipe.

In another embodiment, preferably, the odor exhaust conduit 132 may include at least a pair of vertical pipes 132 a disposed vertically in the waste wash water passage 126, a pair of horizontal pipes 132 b disposed inside both sides of the rim portion of the toilet bowl 122 of the toilet body 120 in such a manner as to extend downwardly from the lower ends of the vertical pipes 132 a, and a single confluent pipe 132 c formed by joining the horizontal pipes 132 b in such a manner as to extend downwardly from the toilet body 120 and fluidically communicate with the exhaust pipe.

In still another embodiment, the odor exhaust fan may include a drive circuit that is turned on or off by a user's manipulation during the use of the flush toilet.

In yet another embodiment, the odor exhaust fan may include a drive circuit that is driven depending on whether or not the user is detected using a thermal or infrared sensor that is installed at a predetermined position of the flush toilet or the restroom.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a flush toilet with a deodorizing function, including: a water tank configured to store waste wash water; a toilet body including a toilet bowl formed to fluidically communicate with the water tank and a drain trap extending downwardly from a bottom of the toilet bowl so as to fluidcally communicate with the toilet bowl, the toilet bowl including a plurality of waste wash water jet holes formed on the inner circumference of an upper rim portion thereof so as to allow the wash water supplied from the water tank to be spouted to the inside of the toilet bowl through the water jet holes via a waste wash water passage; an odor exhaust pipe unit configured to form exhaust channels having a predetermined shape along the inner walls of both sides of a water tank in such a manner that one ends of the exhaust channels fluidically communicate with the toilet bowl and the other ends thereof extend downwardly along the inner walls of both sides of a lower portion of the toilet bowl so as to be opened toward the inside of a space formed below the toilet bowl; and an odor exhaust fan motor mounted inside the space hermetically sealed by the bottom of a rest room so as to be connected in fluid communication with an odor exhaust pipe buried blow the bottom of the rest room, so that when a user relieves himself or herself on the flush toilet, foul odor generated from the toilet bowl can be respectively sucked in through the exhaust channels opened toward the space and can be forcibly discharged to the outside through the odor exhaust pipe by the odor exhaust fan motor.

In another embodiment, the exhaust pipe unit may be integrally formed with the inner wall of the toilet body 220 while forming the exhaust channels along the inner wall of the toilet body 220 when the toilet body is molded, and the exhaust channels may be formed bent in an inverted-U shape having a predetermined height.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention has the following advantageous effects.

The sense of beauty of the outer appearance of the flush toilet is not degraded by virtue of a compact built-in structure in which the foul odor removal means is installed integrally inside a toilet body. In addition, the inner construction of a conventional flush toilet can be used as the foul odor removal means, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the outer appearance of a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an example in which a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention is installed on a restroom;

FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged, cut cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 3 wherein a part of the flush toilet is omitted in the direction of the line II-II; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically illustrating only an odor exhaust conduit built in the flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating another example of a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIGS. 7; and

FIG. 8 is a top cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 7.

EXPLANATION ON SYMBOLS

100, 200: flush toilet 110, 210: water tank

114,214: drain hole 120, 220: toilet body

125, 225: wash water jet holes

126, 226: waste wash water passage

130, 230: odor exhaust device

132, 232: odor exhaust conduit

136, M: odor exhaust fan

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Reference will be now made in detail to more preferred embodiments of a flush toilet with a deodorizing function of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the outer appearance of a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the flush toilet 100 with a deodorizing function includes a water tank 110 that stores waste wash water. In addition, the water tank 110 is configured such that a waste drain hole 114 formed on the bottom of the water tank 110 so as to be openable or closable by a valve (V) (which will be described later with reference to FIG. 2) fluidically communicates with a concave toilet bowl 122.

In addition, the concave toilet bowl 122 is formed integrally with a toilet stand 124 supportedly installed on the floor of a restroom to constitute a toilet body 120. The fluidical communication between the water tank 110 and the concave toilet bowl 122 is achieved by means of a waste wash water passage 126 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), which will be described later, extending from a space below the water tank 110 to the entire circumference of an upper rim portion of the concave toilet bowl 122. The waste wash water passage 126 is formed to fluidically communicate with the drain hole 114 of the water tank 110 so that waste wash water drained upon the opening of the drain hole 114 flows rapidly along the entire circumference of the upper rim portion of the concave toilet bowl 122, and is spouted into the concave toilet bowl 122 through wash water jet holes 125 (see FIG. 2), which will be described later, formed so as to be oriented toward the inside of the concave toilet bowl 122. Thus, a user s waste accumulated in the concave toilet bowl 122 is cleanly drained to the outside while the bowl portion 122 is washed with the wash water.

In the drawing, a reference numeral 112 denotes a flush handle that allows the user to manipulate the valve (V) to open or close the drain hole 114 formed on the bottom of the waste water tank 110. The construction of the flush toilet as described above is not greatly different from that of a conventional flush toilet.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an example in which a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention is installed on a restroom, FIG. 3 is a top cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged, cut cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 3 wherein a part of the flush toilet is omitted in the direction of the line II-II, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically illustrating only an odor exhaust conduit built in the flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, an odor exhaust device 130, which is a characteristic element of the present invention, is integrally mounted in the toilet body 120 (see FIG. 1). The odor exhaust device 130 may include a plurality of waste wash water jet holes 125 formed on the inner circumference of the rim portion of the concave toilet bowl 122 in such a manner as to be spaced apart from one another at predetermined intervals.

That is, the odor exhaust device 130 installed inside the toilet body 120 includes an odor exhaust conduit 132 as shown in FIG. 5 and an odor exhaust fan 136 as shown in FIG. 2.

The odor exhaust conduit 132 includes at least a pair of vertical pipes 132 a disposed vertically at both sides of an upper end of the toilet body 120 in such a manner as to be positioned in the waste wash water passage 126, a pair of horizontal pipes 132 b disposed inside both sides of a rim portion of the toilet bowl 122 in such a manner as to extend from the lower ends of the vertical pipes 132 a and passing through the periphery of the concave toilet bowl 122 of the toilet body 120, and a single confluent pipe 132 c formed by joining the horizontal pipes 132 b in such a manner as to extend downwardly from the toilet body 120 and exposed to the outside as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5.

The single confluent pipe 132 c can be coupled to an exhaust pipe 116 previously installed on the bottom of the restroom in a tightly sealed state using a separate coupling member such as a coupler so as to achieve fluidical communication between the confleunt pipe 132 c and the exhaust pipe 116. In addition, the odor exhaust fan 136 is mounted in the exhaust pipe 116 connected in mutual communication relationship with the single confluent pipe 132 c so that the odor exhaust fan 136 can forcibly suck in a foul odor generated from the waste accumulated in the concave toilet bowl 122 and promptly exhaust the foul odor to the outside through the exhaust pipe 116.

The odor exhaust conduit 132 as constructed above may be designed such that it is mounted inside the toilet body 120 at the time of manufacturing the toilet body 120 by installing the odor exhaust conduit 132 together in a mold in which the toilet body 120 is manufactured. Alternatively, the odor exhaust conduit 132 may be designed such that it is mounted inside the toilet body 120 at the time of manufacturing the toilet body 120 by forming the odor exhaust conduit 132 as a separate element from the toilet body 120.

The waste wash water passage 126 is formed extending from a space just below the water tank 110 to the entire circumference of the rim portion of the concave toilet bowl 122 and fuidically communicates with the wash water jet holes 125 formed on the inner circumference of the upper rim portion of the concave toilet bowl 122, so that the odor exhaust device 130 openably mounted in the waste wash water passage 126 through the vertical pipes 132 a also is in fluidical communication with the wash water jet holes 125 through the waste wash water passage 126 as shown FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Wash water does not flow in the waste wash water passage 12 at ordinary times when the drain hole 114 of the water tank 110 is closed, so that the waste wash water passage 12 is in a hollow state of not containing the wash water to cause the odor exhaust conduit 132, the waste wash water passage 126, and the wash water jet holes 125 to form a single channel.

Thus, in the process in which a user relieves himself or herself on the concave toilet bowl 122, a foul odor generated from his or her waste accumulated in the concave toilet bowl 122 can be forcibly exhausted to the outside through the wash water jet holes 125 formed in fluidical communication with the concave toilet bowl 122, the waste wash water passage 126, and the respective pipes 132 a, 132 b and 132 c of the odor exhaust conduit 132 by the drive of the odor exhaust fan 136. The annoyance level of the foul odor varies depending on individuals but a bad smell is essentially generated from the user's waste including feces and urine. Thus, the bad smell needs to be promptly exhausted and removed in order to maintain freshness in the restroom. For this reason, the odor exhaust fan 136 is mounted in the single confluent pipe 132 c or the exhaust pipe 116 of the odor exhaust conduit 132 so that the foul odor generated from the user's waste in the bowl portion 122 can be forcibly promptly sucked in by the odor exhaust fan 136 before spreading in the interior of the restroom, and then exhausted and removed. By virtue of this odor exhaust action, even after a user releases himself or herself, the foul odor generated from the user s waste is not remained in the interior of the restroom. The amount of the foul odor exhausted is determined by the capacity of the odor exhaust fan 136, and can be controlled arbitrarily depending on the size of the restroom. Preferably, the odor exhaust fan 136 used in the present invention has an exhaust capacity as large as possible and generates a noise as small as possible.

The odor exhaust fan 136 may include a power supply circuit that can be turned on or off by a user's manipulation, or may include a circuit that can be driven depending on whether or not the user is detected using a thermal or infrared sensor that is installed at a predetermined position of the flush toilet or the restroom.

Meanwhile, when a user releases himself or herself and then manipulates the flush handle 112, the drain hole 114 in a closed state is opened to cause wash water contained in the wash water tank 110 to be spouted to the inside of the toilet bowl 122 through the water jet holes 125 via the opened drain hole 114 and the waste wash water passage 126 fluidically communicating with the drain hole 114, so that the user's waste collected in the concave toilet bowl 122 can be discharged to the outside through the soil pipe 129 mounted on the bottom of the restroom via a drain trap 127.

In this process, although the wash water stored in the water tank 110 is temporarily drained to the waste wash water passage 126 through the drain hole 114 and is jetted to the water jet holes, it is not introduced into the odor exhaust conduit 132 mounted in the waste wash water passage 126. The reason for this is that the top end of the vertical pipes 132 a of the odor exhaust conduit 132 mounted vertically in the inside of the waste wash water passage 126 is located a higher position than the level of the wash water flowing into the water passage 126 to thereby prevent the wash water from being introduced into the vertical pipes 132 a. In addition, since the diameter of the vertical pipes 132 a erected vertically in the inside of the waste wash water passage 126 is formed to be less than 20 mm, the vertical pipes 132 a does not have an effect on the flow of the wash water flowing into the waste wash water passage 126.

FIGS. 6 to 9 are views illustrating view illustrating another example of a flush toilet with a deodorizing function according to the present invention.

The embodiment of the flush toilet with a deodorizing function as shown in

FIGS. 6 to 9 is the same as that of the flush toilet with a deodorizing function as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 in terms of the odor exhaust action, except that an odor exhaust device 230 configured to exhaust foul odor generated from the inside of the toilet bowl is mounted inside a toilet body 220, and an odor exhaust pipe unit 231 is integrally formed with the inner wall of the toilet body so as to extend along the inner wall the toilet body.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a flush toilet of this embodiment includes an odor exhaust device 230 inside a toilet body 220 that is provided with a water tank 110 and a toilet bowl 222, and is mounted on the bottom G of a rest room. The odor exhaust device 230 is composed of an odor exhaust pipe unit 231 and an odor exhaust fan motor M.

First, a configuration of the odor exhaust pipe unit 231 will be described hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a pair of inverted U-shaped exhaust channels 231-1 are formed along the inner walls of both sides of a water tank 210 in such a manner that one ends 231-2 of the exhaust channels 231-1 fluidically communicate with a waste wash water passage 226 and the other ends 231-3 thereof extend downwardly along the inner walls of both sides of a lower portion of the toilet body 220 so as to be opened toward the inside of a space 237 formed below the toilet bowl 222. The odor exhaust fan motor M is mounted inside the space 237. Thus, when a user relieves himself or herself on the flush toilet, foul odor generated from his or her waste including feces and urine passes through the wash water jet holes 225 and the waste wash water passage 226 of the toilet bowl 222, and then flows into the odor exhaust pipe unit 231 fluidically communicating with the waste wash water passage 226. The suction of the odor through the odor exhaust pipe unit 231 can be performed more forcibly by means of the odor exhaust fan motor M. The waste is discharged to the outside through a drain trap 227 and a soil pipe 229.

The odor exhaust fan motor M is mounted inside the space 237 formed below the toilet bowl 222. The odor exhaust fan motor M is opened only at a lower portion thereof. Thus, when the underside of a toilet stand 224 of the toilet body 220 is installed on the bottom G of the rest room while abutting against the bottom G (see FIG. 7), the space 237 where the odor exhaust fan motor M is mounted forms a tightly sealed state so as to be isolated from the outside. The odor exhaust fan motor M mounted in the space 237 hermetically isolated from the outside is connected in fluid communication with an odor exhaust pipe 232 buried blow the bottom G of the rest room, so that the foul odor introduced into the space 237 can be promptly discharged to the outside through the odor exhaust pipe unit 231 by the suction operation the odor exhaust fan motor M.

The aim at forming the odor exhaust pipe unit 231 in an inverted-U-shape (i.e., “∩” is to make long an exhaust conduit to alleviate a suction pressure acting on the waste wash water passage 226 from the odor exhaust fan motor M.

The flush toilets illustrated in the above embodiment are represented as an example for implementing the present invention and may also be applied to other kinds of flush toilets. Further, the valve mounted in the water tanks 110 and 210 to open or close the drain holes 114 and 214 has a typical construction, and thus the detailed drawing and description thereof was omitted.

While the present invention has been described in connection with the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings, they are merely illustrative, and the invention is not limited to these embodiments. It is to be understood that various equivalent modifications and variations of the embodiments can be made by a person having an ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the true technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims. 

1. A flush toilet with a deodorizing function, comprising: a water tank configured to store waste wash water; a toilet body including a toilet bowl formed to fluidically communicate with the water tank and a drain trap extending downwardly from a bottom of the toilet bowl so as to fluidcally communicate with the toilet bowl, the toilet bowl including a plurality of waste wash water jet holes formed on the inner circumference of an upper rim portion thereof so as to allow the wash water supplied from the water tank to be spouted to the inside of the toilet bowl through the water jet holes via a waste wash water passage formed below the water tank and along the inside of the upper rim portion of the toilet bowl; and an odor exhaust device including an odor exhaust conduit mounted extending downwardly from the toilet bowl while forming a channel of a predetermined length along both sides of the rim portion of the toilet bowl inside the toilet body in such a manner that an upper portion of the channel is formed so as to be opened toward the waste wash water passage and a lower portion of the channel is formed so as to exposed to the bottom of the toilet body and connected in fluidical communication to an exhaust pipe mounted below the floor of a restroom, and an odor exhaust fan mounted at a predetermined position of the odor exhaust conduit and configured to exhaust a foul odor generated from the inside of the toilet bowl to the outside through the exhaust pipe.
 2. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the odor exhaust conduit includes at least: a pair of vertical pipes disposed vertically in the waste wash water passage; a pair of horizontal pipes disposed inside both sides of the rim portion of the toilet bowl of the toilet body in such a manner as to extend downwardly from the lower ends of the vertical pipes; and a single confluent pipe formed by joining the horizontal pipes in such a manner as to extend downwardly from the toilet body and fluidically communicate with the exhaust pipe.
 3. The flush toilet according to claim 2, wherein the odor exhaust fan comprises a drive circuit that is turned on or off by a user's manipulation during the use of the flush toilet.
 4. The flush toilet according to claim 1, wherein the odor exhaust fan comprises a drive circuit that is driven depending on whether or not the user is detected using a thermal or infrared sensor that is installed at a predetermined position of the flush toilet or the restroom.
 5. A flush toilet with a deodorizing function, comprising: a water tank configured to store waste wash water; a toilet body including a toilet bowl formed to fluidically communicate with the water tank and a drain trap extending downwardly from a bottom of the toilet bowl so as to fluidcally communicate with the toilet bowl, the toilet bowl including a plurality of waste wash water jet holes formed on the inner circumference of an upper rim portion thereof so as to allow the wash water supplied from the water tank to be spouted to the inside of the toilet bowl through the water jet holes via a waste wash water passage; an odor exhaust pipe unit configured to form exhaust channels having a predetermined shape along the inner walls of both sides of a water tank in such a manner that one ends of the exhaust channels fluidically communicate with the toilet bowl and the other ends thereof extend downwardly along the inner walls of both sides of a lower portion of the toilet bowl so as to be opened toward the inside of a space formed below the toilet bowl; and an odor exhaust fan motor mounted inside the space hermetically sealed by the bottom of a rest room so as to be connected in fluid communication with an odor exhaust pipe buried blow the bottom of the rest room, so that when a user relieves himself or herself on the flush toilet, foul odor generated from the toilet bowl can be respectively sucked in through the exhaust channels opened toward the space and can be forcibly discharged to the outside through the odor exhaust pipe by the odor exhaust fan motor.
 6. The flush toilet according to claim 5, wherein the exhaust pipe unit is integrally formed with the inner wall of the toilet body while forming the exhaust channels along the inner wall of the toilet body when the toilet body is molded, and the exhaust channels are formed bent in an inverted-U shape having a predetermined height.
 7. The flush toilet according to claim 3, wherein the odor exhaust fan comprises a drive circuit that is driven depending on whether or not the user is detected using a thermal or infrared sensor that is installed at a predetermined position of the flush toilet or the restroom. 